Thursday, 4 August 2016

Poor Women in Uttarakhand cannot afford expensive Mehendi Art ... Really!


Written by Anil Singh
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Sometimes commenting on some inconsequential events amounts to nothing but nit-picking (unnecessary fault finding). But when major newspapers report these events in such a manner which tries to make them look important, then one has no option but to comment.

From the last 20 days, a particular political party is grand organizing 'Teej Events' in various parts of Uttarakhand. The women cadre of this party are contacting women in their locality to attend such Events. These events are being marketed as open to all women, where the basic idea is to celebrate the festival in its full fervor. That's eat, dance and enjoy.

No one asking the simple question: Who's funding these women-only open to all Teej Events.

The uneasiness with such Teej events in Uttarakhand doesn't relate to who and why someone is funding such events. Although, funding may be an important question. But for the time being lets not go into it.

The basic uneasiness is with the reporting of such events in newspaper. It's alright for a reporter to report about a bhagvat Katha or Teej Event. But it's not alright when the reportage says -- "the organizers said that since many poor women would not afford expensive Mehendi Art, the arrangement for the same had been made free of cost."

Such kind of reporting is in bad taste, as the direct impact of price rise is on food plate. Whether or not a poor woman will afford decorative mehendi pattern on her palms is bad analogy.

If in the past two years, pulses (or Dal) have gone out of reach for sizable population in India; then we should be ready for crores of children who will have stunted growth. That's they as adults will not reach their full body and mental capacity.



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